Social

If Pitt truly is interested in hiring St. Bonaventure men’s basketball coach Mark Schmidt, the Panthers fan base does not approve.

At least if social media is any indication. Those on Twitter were losing their minds Friday afternoon after word leaked that Schmidt, a former Robert Morris coach, interviewed to replace the fired Kevin Stallings.

St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt, who previously coached at Robert Morris for six seasons, interviewed with Pitt on Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The 55-year-old Schmidt just finished his 11th season with the Bonnies, the most recent of which saw his team go 26-8 and finish in second place in the Atlantic 10 regular-season standings, behind only Dan Hurley’s Rhode Island team. Additionally, their win against UCLA in an NCAA tournament play-in game was the program’s first NCAA tournament victory since 1970.

Pitt coaching searches always seem to turn into a punchline, and this current search for a basketball coach is quickly turning into one. There are many reasons why this has happened in the past, but this time around it’s because Pitt has no idea what it wants the men’s basketball program to be.

This whole process would be a lot easier if everyone in positions of power got on the same page.

No program can conduct a successful search for a coach until it figures out these questions: Does Pitt want its program to compete at the highest level? Does Pitt want its program to fight for ACC championships and NCAA tournament success? Does Pitt want a program that regularly produces NBA players?

Three questions and no real answers to any of them. I will say this – for the price Pitt is willing to pay, and I don’t believe for a second Pitt offered a higher salary than Narduzzi is getting to anyone, the answers to those questions will end up being “NO”. If anyone thinks Pitt all of a sudden offered upwards of $3M to a BB coach they are dreaming – that would put a new Pitt BB coaching in the Top 13 of salaries… and that ain’t going to happen when Narduzzi hovers around 60th in his field.

And can we please kill the “Boosters will ante up” when discussing Pitt – there are none who will donate any sum that would make a dent in this coaching search. That happens at real universities that take athletics seriously.

Corky Cost was the last big donor Pitt had and he’s backed away a bit I’ve heard. The last big slew of donations were for the Peterson Sports Complex and there hasn’t been much since – although the info for donations to Pitt athletics is hard to find.

“You’re a starter by day,” Narduzzi confirmed with a grin. “But Damar is having a great spring, so I would say he is the starter today, and he’s really having a nice spring. He’s smart and he’s doing a lot of good things. … He’s stronger than he’s ever been. It’ll be a different year for him, for sure.”

It’s not just Hamlin who hopes to pick up where he left off in 2017. The player with the inside track, early as it may be, to start alongside him at strong safety is in the same boat.

Phil Campbell, a redshirt sophomore who made his first career start in the season finale against Miami and also saw plenty of action the previous week at Virginia Tech, has a renewed sense of confidence after a quiet first couple years. In fact, he’d fallen so far down the depth chart on defense that last October, he was working with the running backs for a couple weeks.

I think we’ll see more kids being tried out at RB this spring and fall – and especially next season. Who we have now aren’t giving anyone shivers of excitement.

See – this is how bad the info flow is coming out of Spring Camp this season. not only did the team hold a Saturday scrimmage last Saturday and we heard literally no one word about it – Narduzzi allows only one player interview most days and apparently yesterday it was Hamlin…so the P-G and the Trib have to run basically the same story the next morning:

Two years after signing as one of Pitt’s most prized recruits in recent memory, Damar Hamlin finally feels as if he’s ready to shine.

“It’s like, ‘About time,’ ” Hamlin said after spring practice Thursday. “It’s what everyone has been waiting on.” Hamlin’s first two seasons at Pitt have been marred by injury: He’s played in only 12 of the Panthers’ 25 games in that time and limited to only a handful of preseason or spring practices.

But Hamlin has been a regular through the first six sessions of Pitt’s spring ball as the first-team field safety. “He’s really having a nice spring,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “He’s smart and doing a lot of good things. He’s stronger than he’s ever been. It’ll be a different year for him, for sure.”

Let’s see how many wins we think – at this early date – we’ll have when the dust settles on the 2018 season. We do our ‘formal’ 2018 predictions in late August but just for laughs…

I see five wins here – Albany, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and Wake Forest. Of course we win one we shouldn’t every season, although I don’t think we’ll beat any of the Big Three gams -PSU, ND or UCF – and we may drop one we should win so I’ll say 6 -6 on the year.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Michaelangelo Monteleone (aka MA, MM, Mike...)
Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset then #22 Miami on Thursday night.

above from Zeise: No program can conduct a successful search for a coach until it figures out these questions: Does Pitt want its program to compete at the highest level? Does Pitt want its program to fight for ACC championships and NCAA tournament success? Does Pitt want a program that regularly produces NBA players?

This is total fluff. Of course, Pitt wants to compete on the highest level. The trouble is that so does 50 other schools. And none of them had Scott Barnes infect them with Stage III malignant cancer.

I think it’s stupid for PN to keep pitt football practices clouded in secrecy. They need all the exposure they can get. You can’t ask peeps to donate to the program but don’t wanna let them know what’s going on or how the team is shaping up

If Pitt hires Schmidt, the Pete will be a very sad and lonely place for many years. Pitt need to take a risk with a young up and comer. One of the elite programs must have a shining star assistant wanting to spread his wings. Trying to climb back from the abyss will not be easy or quick.

Really hoping for Hamlin and Ford to live up to their potential this year.

If somehow Pitt can cobble together a decent O-line we may surprise some people.

Seven wins is max. 4 is the floor. Maybe another crappy bowl in Detroit that nobody watches or cares about.

Closed practices are a bad bad thing. Need to create buzz and excitement. Need to have a special connection with players and the team.

And pitt won’t pay a basketball coach more than football when football pays the bills. The dollar offer to Hurley was false.

And pitt has no identity. I don’t believe they want to compete at the highest levels. Look at our facilities and what we pay people. Pay is average. Venue off campus. Pete is an old crypt.

They talk about the porch but only sweep it every once a while.

Pitt is content with being middle of the pack. Being average and occasionally having a real good year.

Getting to the NIT is their goal not the Big Dance. Staying clean. Graduating players. Staying out of trouble. Running a low risk and low reward program.

Knowing that is the philosophy and the culture won’t change, Pitt has no business being in the ACC. Pitt will never do what it will take to compete against Duke and NC. Or against Florida St or Miami in football.

Pitt is more than content collecting a $30 million dollar check from the conference for achieving mediocrity or often worse.

I would kick Pitt out and reach out to West Virginia or UConn. Pitt is a good fit for the MAC and even then they wouldn’t suddenly become dominant.

I have to agree with Reed. If Reed believes things are this bad it is because they are. I am not an alum, but have been a lifelong fan.
I no longer follow the Pirates at all.
Pitt is trending that way. I will keep my season football tickets this year to try and help the cause, but if the administration does not care why should I?
Further, if you could run a 4.3 or breakdown the Duke frontcourt off the dribble why would you consider coming here?
N.B Did they do no research on Heather before they hired her? How could you not know that she spent her former department into insolvency?

HCPN should keep the entire program shrouded in secrecy: no interviews, no video, don’t even reveal when practices are. Enthusiasm for Pitt athletics has reached an unstoppable deluge that, based upon the standing-room-only crowds, he can afford to shutdown the publicity pipeline. Besides, keeping his practice hand close to the vest worked so well for him last time.

As for hoops, the longer this coaching debacle drags on, the more I believe H-t-P is I’ll equipped to handle the job.

Reed – It’s been confirmed (reported locally and nationally), and most likely leaked by Hurley’s agent, that Pitt offered $3.25M annually for 6 years to Hurley with the same deal most likely on the table for Miller. Are you saying that is a lie? It’s also been reported that it was drummed up via the boosters who, it’s also been reported, ponied up money for Stallings buyout.

I’m confused with why you’re so adamant that is not the case when it’s been widely circulated that Pitt, indeed, did step up money-wise for this coaching search and, indeed, had donors helping.

Now, Pitt won’t be offering that $3.25M to anyone besides Hurley or Miller but the money was there and it was at least partially raised by boosters.

Besides, no one knows how much Narduzzi makes after his bump last season. Pitt doesn’t report that information nor have I seen it leaked anywhere. Maybe Narduzzi makes more than $3.25M annually now, or has a clause to bump his salary if another coach passes him.

Side note, you do realize that Frost took 7/9 assistants with him from the UCF staff to Nebraska and I don’t think the new coach retained the other two. Plus, they have a first time head coach at the helm. UCF may be difficult but Miami and VT are bigger games than UCF. Unless, you meant OOC.

I would have to believe that the offer was higher than Reed thinks due to the fact that UConn is paying $2,75M. I would have to think that they would have to be somewhere in the ballpark of the Pitt offer

Reed – Both local papers reported it. John Rothstein at CBS first broke it. Jeff Goodman at ESPN confirmed it. Hurley is getting $2.75M from UCONN and every media outlet reported it was less than Pitt’s offer. What else do you need? If it’s not $3M or $3.25M it’s pretty damn close if it was a better offer than $2.75M per season. Everything was breaking on Twitter too but, of course, a major Pitt blogger doesn’t follow Twitter.

And by Twitter, I mean national college basketball writers like Seth Davis, Goodman, Rothstein etc in addition to the local beat writers. Not all of which makes into a published story … because that’s not how news is disseminated these days.

I agree with Anon, the PG piece was fluff, typical media attempt to generate interest by attempting to drum up controversy (not that some doesn’t exist), and create a story instead of reporting one and providing insight. All media, including blogs, now do this, so I don’t mean to single the PG out.

I also agree with the general theme, that the athletic program in general is making poor decisions handling media which works against itself and causes more harm than good, the closed practices being case in point. It appears we lack a vision/plan.

Pitt FB guess? Me too, 6-6, and I do think we’ll have a better team this year, but you’re looking at 2 non-conference games against PSU & ND, plus a vengeful Miami team on the road.

Final thought: start grooming EJ now, and maybe he’ll be ready to take the reigns when Heather leaves.

Zeise is right. What does Pitt want to be? If you want to compete in the ACC, you need to spend more money and create a culture and org structure that supports winning. Takes time and money. Pitt talks about this front porch but has no idea what it takes to maintain it. Pitt struggled in the big east across most programs. The ACC is a big step up and pitt still isn’t ready for it.

I don’t understand why my friend Reed always needs absolute proof when PITT does something positive? Just plain unbelievable I suppose? Progress has to be on wheels and moving forward. Two steps forward, one step backwards still gets you further ahead at the end of the day.

I suppose Heather and the entire PITT administration realized at the start that the hoop head coach gig would be a hard well and upped the ante to bring in a top guy. Even that didn’t work. Bad past practices have really hurt PITT athletics throughout the years. When they muck it up, that’s when they do a good job.

Ask yourself this question: What would happen to Villinova if Jay Wright leaves? Is that BB program sustainable long term without D1 football? Would they go old or young for the next coach? These are not easy questions, and Pitt is in the same boat, sort of. It is not easy to follow any legend (not saying Dixon is exactly a legend). Most coaches don’t stay for long anymore, and it is hard to sustain any program in basketball when other schools can buy players. Most schools will have a mistake or two after a legend before settling on the right guy.

I agree Bernie. But unfortunately if Reed decides to get rid of the “Anons” these people will just type a false name like “Upitt’s donkey sock” or such. The days of men standing by their words are long gone…….(sigh)

I do think the football team will be better this year regardless of wins and losses due to the killer schedule, with all but one of the good games on the road. The defense should be pretty strong and the offense has a QB. Having a QB makes everything easier on offense.

I ask the question. What good did it do for PITT to have that figure tossed about in public? I signed up for the POV but not your inside cynical club….. and yes I know who all the officers are. Carry on officer and have a nice day.

It was very strange but good – The play was modernized and had audience participation… but my attention kept getting pulled away by an older guy in the audience, front and center, who had a “Pittsburgh Pirates” tee-shirt on.

I have tried to stay on the “dont assume” and “dont bitch when you dont really know” side of this. Be patient. Etc. HOWEVER:

Lyke knew what was coming. Supposedly the decision to fire Stallings came halfway through the ACC season. So now that it appears we are just now considering the B list, doing the evaluation, letting the search firm to their work, well, was Lyke not doing her homework all of January, February, and early March?

Homework would first provide history and context, which is this: Pitt has not gotten A-level BB coaching talent to be interested, ever. We won by hiring someone from N. AZ, and then promoting his assistant. Never has an A-level coach been remotely interested in Pitt. And the reasons why that has been true have not changed in 30 years.

Conclusion to Lyke: Swing for the fences, sure, but BE READY when it fails.

Then: Take the 2 months you knew Stallings was gone and DO YOUR HOMEWORK on which assistants, or small school coaches, are diamonds in the rough. Have that evaluation done before the firing. Deep evaluation. In that way, there is a solid B list you believe can make Pitt a winner again, and are ready to pursue the second you find that the A listers dont want Pitt.

gc, I disagree about Villanova. Basketball just cannot support all other sports without a major contribution from the general fund. Pitt is finding that out, and should have understood that the ACC money is not enough to raise the quality of all sports to make them competitive without a major injection of school funds to get them to a competitive level. Pitt tried to handle the transition on the cheap. Look at what we are seeing now in all other Pitt sports. Once Wright leaves, it is probable that Villanova will go through a down period in basketball, and there will be no great D1 FB program to sustain it. Look at Georgetown…

Massimino, then Wright, they will get somebody, maybe even home grown. Don’t disagree that anyone can have a down period with a coaching change, just don’t agree that they are in the same boat as Pitt.

So we have how many millions sitting in an endowment fund …crazy…. Sport is part of the lifeblood of a University and and can’t really be separated from University academics and life for a student at D1 University. The management at Pitt does their best to separate something that is really inseparable. If you are in a game.. play to win

The more things change, the more they stay the same. BB will end up hiring Stallings lite. FB will finish 7-5 at best. I too no longer follow the Pirates, Kman. Pirates would trade Clemente and Stargell and get no one for them. Agree Kman, Pitt seems to be going down the same path. Like I tell my 15 year old, if you don’t care, don’t expect others to care. That’s Pitts ongoing story. If Pitt doesn’t care about its sports, why should I. Please Ebenezer Pitt, do something to change my tortured soul. – Hobie

Pitt always seems to win a game it’s not supposed to (Clemson 2016, Miami 2017) and lose to teams they shouldn’t such as Syracuse and North Carolina. Most years, how Pitt fares against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech determines the kind of year they have and on paper every year Virginia Tech is better. On paper. We shall see.

Lyke was handcuffed by the boosters to try for Hurley with Miller as a backup plan … Miller as a backup plan was never really an option for Lyke, however. Thus, we had to wait for the tourney and Hurley and now she has a smaller dollar amount to work with to hire a new coach. That $3.25M was earmarked for the other two candidates. I still think you should be patient. The scare yesterday with Schmidt felt like a temperature test to me … I doubt they expected the swiftness and reaction to be so intense, however. There are a ton of good coaches out there. It’s way more important to get this right than to do it fast. To me, right means hiring a coach that gives hope. I could not care less about anything else right now. Winning immediately is not happening.

It is never too late for Pitt to wake up and smell the roses. Both Heather and Barnes were supposedly selected because of their fund raising ability. Pitt is a first class public university with research facilities on a par with Michigan, Virginia and others. What is needed is a commitment to its sports programs, and maybe this embarrassment of a recruiting process will get the B0T to understand how good (or bad) sports programs can affect the image of the school.

How does taking our time and letting everyone else, Georgia, Rhode Island, Louisville, maybe even Xavier, and St Bonaventure + having candidates sign new contracts with their original schools help our cause, Tossing?

The football program is on the rise. Maybe not at the speed some want. but they will be good if the QB stays upright. It takes time and talent to turn programs around. Pitt on D is looking much better. The coaching search was a get the best guy in Hurley. Didn’t happen. Pitt and the AD want a full Pete and good program. The economics are clear here. Sell out the Pete and the cash flow pays for the costs. Pitt is where the program needs to begin the process of sustainable growth. ACC money will certainly enable Pitt to compete and hire coaches who can deliver a winning football and BB program.

Chet – I was positive! I said I think we’ll improve to 6-6 in football. But let’s not kid ourselves – there are some real problems within the football program and team.

All you have to do is look at the number of non-graduated kids who “left” the program since the Miami game. That’s one problem and isn’t resolved yet.

Recruiting is another and if some fans take off the “Narduzzi can do no wrong” blinders they’d see that. I’ve written about what someone who has very long time and close ties with the football program saying “It is the worse they have seen in 20 years” and it’s showing.

We fans (and Pat Narduzzi) have exactly one thing to hand our football helmets on for 2018 and that is a virtually untested SO QB – who by the way threw exactly one TD pass in 66 attempts and that was a trick shovel pass. Other than Pickett, and we still don’t really know if he can carry a team or not, what exactly do we know about any one unit on the team?I mean where we can point to it and say it is a proven success from 2017?

Not one unit that didn’t suck last season – we were bad across the board save for a bit better defense at the end of the year (where we still gave up 20 points and lost to VT).

All is speculation with football at this point but the reality is we are coming off a seven loss year and that worries the more level headed fans.

Add to that a five win season – one of only three times we have done that in 19 years… and things ain’t looking that pretty.

Last year at this time I wrote that we’d probably have 6 wins – with an outside shot at 7 because our anointed starting QB Max Brown wasn’t a D1 talent and would fail at Pitt. That was a pretty close prediction but many others were saying 8, 9 or even 10 wins.

So this year reality sets in a bit more for Pitt fans and they have valid reasons for concern and criticism.

Basketball is as totally screwed up as a major university’s athletic program can be – and I mean that literally. No conference wins, near or at the bottom in almost all relevant stats and now the goat f*ck of a coaching search wherein no coach who cares about his professional reputation wants to come anywhere near Pitt.

My Lord – if that $3.25M number is true, as I doubt but… and people are turning us down? That is a smack in the face to our athletic department and the university and is rather hilarious.

So please hold the sarcasm about Pitt fans who are calling things as they stand right now. Things look bad on the BB front and not-so-great on the football front. There is nothing wrong with talking about those issues.

I too believe that there was not a $3M offer for Hurley. My sense is that it was more in the $2.3M range that could escalate to $3.2M in 6 years. The agent leaks it out to the media, knowing his client and his wife are not entertaining the Pitt offer because he knows UConn is all in and URI will make a run too. At best, Pitt is the 3rd option. Agent gets a win for his client, using Pitt’s AD. Simple negotiation tactic. That is why you give 24 hours. Candidly, I don’t think he takes it under those circumstances either because he was a lock for UConn and our AD didn’t know better.

Now, you do pay $3M to Miller and ride that storm, if any. Unlike Ike, I do not think there is going to be a mass exodus of coaches when the other shoe drops. All of these things will play out behind the scenes when the coaches hire attorneys and negotiate most of this away. The NCAA will continue to say this isn’t their area of concern because let’s face it. The NCAA is paid by its membership and makes billions for tv rights based on how things are. Why should they blow up the money making scam.

This is why you sign Miller, today. Pay him and smile to the bank.

This is why a good to great AD has 4-5 coaches that trust them and would make the leap. She is a weak link in an Administration full of weak links made from porous chinese steel. She has nothing to hang her hat on. No accomplishments. No big connections. No media respect. No big time experience. She got……fanta.

For those that said we could never get an A-lister, Calipari comes to mind. Tell me how often he has received a show cause?? You can get A-listers, you just need them to trust you and there is no trust with our AD that she knows what she is doing or the Administration that definitely has no idea. The Pitt Administration is clueless.

Very accurate post. Any information on contract value is leaked from the agent of said coach/athlete, and it includes all the incentives, performance bonuses, and pie in the sky kickers that are usually never fulfilled. It is a lot easier for Pitt to say, “we offered him over $3 million” when you find out you are a distant 3rd place on the list.” This coaching search went the way I thought it would – rudderless and grasping for cheaper straws.

We did NOT offer Hurley 3.25M. I think its pretty funny posters thinking Pitt offered Hurley a 19.5 million dollar contract over 6 years. And on top of that paying Stallings 9+M to walk away. Almost 30 million, this isn’t the Pitt way when it comes to sports. All we have heard for years is Pitt doesn’t have the money to spend, because people don’t donate compared to other schools. Where are all you posters at now?

Pitt has been traditionally cheap for HC and assistant budgets for a LONG time now. Now, your thinking they are going to offer top 14 money in the entire country for a lower level coach. Nope. And more money than Narduzzi is getting? Nope.

I’m with Reed on this one. Like Reed said, show me a valid report.

Pay VERY close attention to the actual hire. The proof is in the pudding, it will not be a 3.25M coach. I believe at this stage Heather has been turned down at least 3 times. 1) Hurley. 2) Oats. 3) Grant and Grant did get a contract extension out of it. It would not shock me if it was 5 times. Unfortunately the scenario exists that Heather is going to deliver Pitt fans a shit show.

OK I’ll show a valid report after you show me one that validates the money wasn’t offered. Valid report? What a cop out. It’s ok to report everything about the current AD and what she’s doing or not doing without any validity.

Reed is right. Narduzzi will be gone soon. He only tolerates things because Heather will do whatever he wants.

Heather left her former gig in a huge mess. The current AD saying I didnt realize how bad things really were. Heather has not raised funds.

In fact shes doing everything like her predecessors to alienate boosters and alum. She should have had a coach hired weeks ago much like Georgia.

Why is Pitt so incompetent? Many were against the KS hiring. Many were against the Heather hiring. I’ve done my best to give people a chance but no more with Heather. I’ve seen enough.

Pitt would have hired that Schmidt guy if social media didnt explode. Totally clueless these morons in charge.

I’ve also seen enough of this tough talk by Mr atom counter about this front porch. That damn thing doesnt exist at Pitt. I’d take a Hoopie porch littered with couches and critters living underneath.

I’m really starting to think that Cornhole 2 wasnt all that bad.

Pitt cannot depend on their annual welfare check from the ACC.

And I’m fine with any Anon coming on here even if they are Hoopie or Pedo trolls. Pitt deserves everything being dished. Pitt can actually learn from posters from schools who actually care about sports. All I know is Pitting.

10-2 for Pitt this season, at least! No, not drinking yet today, just very optimistic for the boys. We had very bad QB play overall last year and still were a half yard away from 6-6, so imagine how much better with a talented kid like Pickett running the show all year — fingers crossed on the injury department…but apparently Town has big-time talent too in case he’s called on for a game or two.

The D was trending much better in the second half of last year and we have many guys back who got serious game experience. I have great confidence in Hall and Ollison pushing eachother for very good seasons, and if they choke have no doubt Duzz will burn the DC kid’s redshirt and put his @ss in there if he can run as advertised. Pickett reminds me of Palko, with more talent around him this year…expect greatness!

Huff has it right. We should go all in with Miller, with an escape clause included. And have they even talked to Calipari? He may be fed up with his one and done strategy at KY since there is no teamwork or relationship building with the kids before they leave, and the results are certainly not a given. Maybe he would like to return home to straighten out the local 5. At least Pitt should ask. BTW, it seems to me that as Heather was leaving EMU, they announced a big donation to the sports programs which she was a major part of. She will need time to bring in significant outside dollars, but the BB issue must be solved now.

Huff, I have an educated guess that the BB scandal is worse than most realize. Yet I am very in favor of hiring Miller and taking the chance. No, that’s not double talk. One, PITT doesn’t have a dam thing to lose. Two, Miller will fill up the Pete once again. I think I asked the question, wouldn’t it be prudent? I think the time is long gone for PITT to be prudent

Goalie, I asked very nice and why do you care that I care? We can do this all day. Actually you’re anonymous if you sign off as Goalie or Buck Tooth Bill, no difference.

Felix, I agree, we just don’t know much about this search for a new head BB coach but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun ripping apart people we have never met for doing a lousy job when we can’t prove it. C’mon guys we haven’t read or heard of any factual proof on paper that Heather isn’t doing her job the right way. << Oops yours truly Goalie 444

If she did her job the right way a coach would of been hired within 5-7 days and in route to Pitt by now. The truth is she is a rookie and her last program is in shambles and she was overhead. She was hired not NC of her resume but because it was PC. Gallagher thinks he is so hip.

Nobody polices this blog – no readers nor do I. I have banned exactly one person in almost two years because of stuff he did outside the blog directed at me personally.

That said – I would hope that we are all adults on here and can accept others opinion as valid and rebut them if we feel the need to in a civil manner,

I do not care if someone is ‘anon’ on here although I think it shows a lack of self confidence and maturity. if you have something negative to say – say it and get ready to engage to defend your points.

There is only one person on here who is 100% correct and 100% infallible and you are reading his words right now.

I’m now on record as not liking Goalie’s opinion. My rebuttal is I feel Goalie is policing me and in a rather in my face way. No I’m not on any board of trustee committee. I’ll conclude that it is Goalie policing me and what and how I comment.

Not to mention I thought the anon writer was a poster I am familiar with and have much respect for. Who btw, did appear on the round table. You know, not all that anonymous when you show your face and announce your real name. This will be my last comment directed at you Mr Anonymous. << I ask you do the same. ike

VoR, Always look at the donations. Was it one whale who opened their purse, or was it thousands of smaller donations indicating a groundswell of support.
Ordinarily I would agree with Tossing. But the look of incompetence is really making us look bad. You can play it close to the vest and look like you know what your doing. So far, I will admit she’s not impressing me.

Ike – can you really sit there and tell me that Lyke is ‘doing her job the right way” when she (and everyone at Pitt) knew early on in the season that Stallings was on the very red-hot seat?

You don’t think she should have had contingency plans #1, #2 and #3 in-place? Apparently she had nothing and now we are seeing the fruits of that. She should have engaged Folger early on to start vetting and advising back when the idea of cutting Stallings loose first surfaced. And if that thought didn’t surface soon after ACC play started then she really hasn’t done her job well at all.

She’s gotten zero extra money for football staff – otherwise we’d be hiring guys who were successful AT THE JOBS WE ARE HIRING THEM FOR… not keeping our fingers crossed that MAC staff coaches can fleet up to the big time like we are doing. Hell, we hired a almost 60 year old LB coach as our DC. Doesn’t that raise an alarm bell with you that if this guy was actually very good at his job he would have been promoted to a coordinator position 20 years ago?

That alone shows she has no pull with the BoT, Leadership committee and the university’s financial and budgetary office.

No Reed, I can’t say Heather knows what she is doing. Because I just don’t know. I often get accused of favoring one aspect of a person or another, Stalling is a case in point, I felt he needed a chance before he was crucified or at least before I did. Well he really turned out to be a bad hire. I have no regrets defending his hire although I did not like the way he was hired.

I have principles I’ve lived by my whole life. Judging someone without knowing the facts is not in my wheel house. Judging is not an opinion in my book. I do give out respect a little too easy at times but I guard the outgoing trust like a pit-bull.

Not getting too deep into contingency plans 1 thru 80. I do know that I’ve read that Hurley, Crean, Matta, Schimdt, Grant, and others have either been interviewed or approached about the job. I can’t say she didn’t have a plan B. None of them wanted to come to PITT! and before you say why didn’t Heather know that beforehand. They wouldn’t tell her that, many of them landed better jobs with more money because of PITT. It’s called negotiations my friend. .. . … Mr Pickle.

If Heather didn’t have the money for a big hire then she should have been looking at diamonds in the rough assistant coaches or HCs who were very successful smaller schools and who would do well at jumping up a level.

That way if we struck out on prime targets – and it looks like we are at this point – she could have had a few names already in her contacts… or skip the bigger targets altogether and get those asst coaches and smaller school coaches right as soon as Stallings was fired.

6 or one half dozen because no matter what happens Pitt fas are going to be disappointed in the BB program anyway until they actually win a few ACC matches.

I still think we’ll end up with a relative unknown and he’ll do a decent job next season.

Love hearing how Heather-the-presenter is moving on to greener pastures.
Just curious as to what she has done to warrant such a step up the food chain.

As for the national joke that is our coaching search, if not Miller or someone with a name, get Brandon Knight and claim we think he is ready. At least a few fans will come to the Pete for that.
Otherwise, it will be a tomb.

The tournament is still going on. Pitt only offered on person, Hurley. Crean was not going to be a good fit. Matta is injured. Miller is un-hirable … even though Lyke is apparently under significant pressure to pursue him.

This isn’t college football. You actually have to wait for teams to stop playing in college basketball.

Literally, everyone else is still available regardless of what contract extensions they’re signing. As a reference point to that, Bobby Hurley signed an extension two weeks before he bolted Buffalo for ASU.

It is a coaching search and people are anxious, I get it. Pitt is looking into a lot of coaches at this point but not necessarily formally interviewing them or seriously considering offering them the job. I’m told nothing is imminent. They are just doing their due diligence.

Look, this isn’t like Stallings smacked some kid around in the last game and had to be fired quickly so Lyke is being taken by surprise to find a new HC all of a sudden. Zeise makes it sound like all this just started the day Stallings was fired… but it should have stared oh, let’s say when we were 0-10 in ACC play?

Wouldn’t you say the handwriting was on the wall back then? Our 10th ACC loss was to Miami on 1/31/18 and a full seven weeks ago. Ziese makes it sound like we are just starting at step one when in reality we should be at the end of the hiring process.

There are no coaching ‘targets’ left in the NCAAs at this point and this should be done by now – or very close to it.

Reed, you are taking a few shots on this blog that IMO are undeserved …. but I’m not convinced that you are correct about Hurley’s offer. You do realize that when Narduzzi was hired at around $1.75 or so, Dixon was at $3M or so. Further, Narduzzi had no HC experience when hired, while Hurley has been successful at two schools .. yes, they were mid-level schools but he was THE guy to get according to most experts.

To me, with Heather firing Stallings, she had to swing for the fences and gave Hurley Pitt’s best shot. To me, this was pretty similar to Pederson’s hiring of Graham in 2011 at $2M …. which until this year, has been the highest salary paid to a Pitt FB coach.

one more thing … you said they would not pay Hurley more than Narduzzi …. you do realize that Stallings was making more than Narduzzi these past 2 years (and I bet he doesn’t come close to Stallings buyout)

I understand that about Dixon – he was the winningest HC in Pitt BB history and his teams generated money through tourney appearances- but Pitt worked up to that salary of his – it wasn’t given to him upon his hire.

My point is that i do not believe pitt is going to pay any unproven-at-Pitt HC $3M to start and if they do they are idiots because there is no guarantee we don’t get another dud like we did with Stallings.

Look we are at rock bottom – we are not going to be in the Top echelon of BB for a few years at least if we are lucky). Hire a good HC now and build his pay up based on performance not just to sign on a dotted line.

In other words we are going to suck from 2-3 years so wny pay millions to do so?

@lebronstein
Follow Follow @lebronstein
More
Just caught up with Nate Oats. Said agent had some exploratory talks with Pitt, but nothing further. “There’s no team I would rather coach next year than Buffalo.”

Joe, I think that was one big donation Heather pulled in at EMU, so you are right that it does not reflect any real skill at bringing many donors to the table. But Reed is right that it was obvious KS was gone very early on in the 2017/18 schedule. Folger should have been quietly vetting candidates months ago to find out who was interested, who the best assistants are, recruiters are, etc. Looks like it didn’t happen. And they should have known that once they pulled the trigger on KS, the clock would be running and they would need to move quickly (see GA recruiting process) to name the new coach. This also didn’t happen. So regardless of who the new coach will be, Pitt really needs to get its act together.

Several reasons, one very important: he is handicapped in moving his body which makes it painful if not almost impossible for him to travel, which means he cannot scout potential players and/or recruit.

So an ego maniac who feels compelled to aithorca blog is also so humble he contributes to the panther club anonymously ? Lol . I am calling full on bull crap to that narrative. You attacking the donor base but give nothing. Don’t even attend hoops and when you go to football games you don’t pay your way in You scarf up your minions food st tailgates . You sir are a gold bricker

Real guru,
I am also APPAULED at your attacks towards this blog owner/writer/etc.
I know this man personally and Reed does an exceptional job with the POV and also with his selfless sacrifice in helping our vets who are in need!
You are way out of line.

You guys act like Pitt is in competition with a ton of schools. There are not many jobs open. Pitt is not competing with Louisville for a coach. Nor will they be competing with Xavier when that opens. Pitt has time.

what Pitt is competing with is that these guys apparently feel that they are better off staying put and waiting another year for a better opening than coming to Pitt for more money this year. Sad but true

Wait – do 33 years of public service mean anything here? I can throw that in too if you want.

I have always donated money anonymously since I was 18 years old. My parents taught me humility in financial affairs above all. i put money where I think it will do the most work for the betterment of society – not for someone who can shoot a free throw or make a tackle.

And if you think you can stack your family’s contributions to the University of Pittsburgh as a whole compared to mine you are welcome to try.

On a side note to Fran – sorry that you, and all others at the tailgates, are “my minions” and that I eat all your tailgate food. And to everyone I have ever sent POV shirts or other POV stuff to – I apologize and please return them as I now realize I did all that at no cost to you as an ego-boost to myself.

Oh – and next time I offer to buy the first round or two for everyone at a gathering disregard that also as it is blatent ego masturbation on my part.

Reed certainly doesn’t need me to defend him. He served our country and never expected anything in return except the opportunity to continuing his fine work and volunteering his services after retirement.

Reed is no way a goldbricker. He’s one of the most honorable men I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

Goalie, our dust up is nothing…. I’m a rambling man and don’t dwell on one comment for too long.. Except for Reed and Upitt and Emel and on and on …etc . . .etc .. etc… ike

Matta’s health detriment is a bad back form a surgery that went poorly earlier in the decade. It’s affected his coaching ability / recruiting and was directly related to him getting fired at OSU. It’s a legit concern.

Seriously, though … There is not a lot of competition for coaches. Louisville is going after Mack, which will open up Xavier. It’s doubtful Pitt and Xavier will be competing for the same coach.

Pitt can still end up with a very good coach. The pace is irrelevant as they aren’t fighting with anyone over any coaches.

This guy Micah Shrewsberry sounds very interesting to me. The biggest drawback appears to be that he was never a head coach, so can he make the tough calls at critical points in a game? At 41 still a young enough guy. But was apparently turned down by UMass in the past.

That was Heather. She starts a planned vacation. Spring break back in Michigan. I’d love to have EJ make the hire this week since our AD is worthless.

I don’t think anyone really knows how close Pitt was to hiring that turd. The twitter shat storm put the kibosh on things. I believe it was to happen.

Heather really just needs to read blogs for her candidates. These names were there three months ago. Appears to me she just started the search once stallings was fired. She’s utterly incompetent. I would fire her before I’d hire a new coach.

Comes back to who are you. Who do you want to be. It’s identity.

I’m not fine with being the butt of jokes and being a loser or quitter. But Pitts BoT is.

Emel – Shrewsberry would be no minnow. It would mean a slower climb, however. He’d have less of an immediate impact a Matta or Miller would have. Outside of those two, I think it’s going to be a process regardless.

Bowls are great for seniors as a send-off. The BCS margainalized them. The playoff is cutting off their oxygen. I say they’re meaningless outside the playoff but that probably is not accurate. Maybe the playoff and the next 4 top bowls.

They’re just exhibition games. No different than preseason games. If you’re lucky you go somewhere warm and you hope your kids don’t get hurt.

Do elite athletes watch bowl games in Detroit. Do they care if you are ranked number 20 versus number 30. Do players actually want to play in a cold city against a scrub team. I really don’t see how these games help recruiting and players for next year. If it’s in a nice location against a national team, then it could be fun for both players and fans. But I don’t see any recruit saying that the win again bowling green convinced me to go to Pitt. That was our last win. Pretty pathetic.

AD’s in big programs trump the attorney’s. The AD needs to be confident that their decision makes more sense than a legal argument and then convince the chancellor that their way is the right way. They also need to know how to make a decision and own it. Our AD is afraid of making decisions.

ESPN 100 PG Brandon Williams is the third Arizona commit in the 2018 class to decommit since the FBI investigation into college basketball recruiting came to light in September. Five-star point guard Jahvon Quinerly opened his recruitment in October, and eventually ended up at Villanova. Shareef O’Neal, Shaq’s son, decommitted last weekend, one day after ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported that FBI wiretaps intercepted phone conversations between Arizona coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins, a runner for ASM Sports agent Andy Miller. O’Neal committed to UCLA three days later.

To those saying take our time with this search,…since the decision to fire Stallings was made months ago, what searching needs to be done now that could have been done during that time. These coaches all have agents who could tell Pitt if their clients were interested… interviewing of any candidates not still coaching in the Big Dance could be done. Pick your man, give them 24 hours, if they counteroffer get it done, if not interested move on. I don’t understand what “taking our time” accomplishes at this point beyond making Pitt appear more incompetent by the day. What more does the search team need to know??!

Their #1 guy was in the tourney and he just decided Wed. Lmao. Have patience. They aren’t competing with anyone to hire a coach. Money is more concerning than time. Can Pitt pay enough? That’s what you should be worried about.

This Loyola coach only has only two 20 win seasons, one winning conference record and a buzzer beater from being knocked out in the first round. Pass. I lover Cinderella but I hope he doesn’t become a candidate.

Who exactly did she hire? Man she left Cal in such financial disaster that Barnes looks good to Cal. Her singular issue is selling transgendered bathrooms in the stadium redo to the PSU token blind siders.

Maybe Oats, and some other coaches, doesn’t feel up to the challenge of the ACC?? Especially when Pitt just comes off playing Duke, Louisville and Syracuse both home and away. Buffalo’s schedule might be a tad more favorable to a guy’s win-loss record…

Go Pitt.

PS: And Pitt paid Stallings $2.5M – so why is around $3M for Hurley so hard to believe??? They seem equally amazing to me…

@Tossing – Hurley was never coming to Pitt. Pitt was a pawn for his current contract with Rhode Island and a possible new job with UConn. Pitt was NEVER in that game. #Used.

AD didn’t understand the game due to lack of experience.

Timing – Every day that goes by gets closer to the end of spring classes which gets closer to current team members leaving and developing ties to new teams. Every day leads to not being able to recruit new players to Pitt. So to all that think we need to take our time, think those things thru just a bit.

I have told higher ed legal to pound salt on issues much greater than a bball coach that might have some baggage. It wasn’t popular, but it was right for the institution. Turned out the problem ended up going away over time and with minimal legal expense. Yes, I was a bit nervous as things unfolded. When legal analysis strays into strategic planning and influencing decisions, they need to be put in their place. Legal folks are trained to spot legal issues and advise on them. The major issue for Pitt legal is that there is no NCAA precedent on this. When you allow legal job creep into an equation, the institution loses.

Huff – I know Hurley was never coming here. It’s what the donors wanted so she had to wait.

I know people don’t believe it but Pitt has influential donors/boosters that will earmark money to the athletic dept when needed. In this case, it’s to hire either Miller or Hurley and resulted in the firing of Stallings.

Believe what you want. Neither Pitt or Heather are as helpless as you think they are. Pitt’s problem is getting the average alumni to donate to the athletic dept. They have a top 25 endowment so they have money. It’s convincing those donors to let Pitt use some for athletics.

This article even quotes a donor. I know some of you don’t like the sight but there is no reason to not believe it.

Ok, this is exactly what I mean about these Phantom donors at Pitt. If a group of donors actually got together and said we’re going to fund hiring a basketball coach and this is who we want him to be and then Pitt cancels the meeting because of other commitments they’re basically blowing off these donors and leaving free millions on the table?

Or, we are to believe that someone is holding millions of dollars but for only one candidate?

“PSN has been told by various donors that major money would be contributed to the athletic department if Miller is hired and only if Miller is hired. ”

Sorry, I don’t buy that at all because I don’t think anyone cares that much about BB at Pitt to try to use extortion to sway the choice.

If there are these big whale donors out there they would have contributed to the football program because football is what Pitt’s all about. We discuss football year in and year out, month in month out, day in day out.

Not so with Pitt basketball it is a seasonal only following.

If the donors wanted to influence athletics at Pitt they would pay big money to have good staff coaches come in to support Pat Narduzzi and to try to get championship football at Pitt but that doesn’t happen… so excuse me if I’m weary of all these anonymous big donor quotes.

Only one thing to add – some donors Lyke BB more than FB and “could” prefer their money to go that way. There are a lot of people who give privately – it is a sound principle to practice with a high character twist.

Now, Miller and AZ posted an assistant coaching position late yesterday that probably means the Pitt administration has moved on from the Miller option.

Reading between the lines (for Ike’s sake).

Guys and gals – we need to practice patience. The good in all of this is Stallings is no longer the CEO of Pitt BB. The bad is our (fans) speculation is feeding a media frenzy that is feasting on the negative appearance only, of Pitt BB.

When Heather returns from her Spring Break, she’ll have time to implement Plan B (speculation and reading between the lines, run a-muck). Seriously, there are plenty of good candidates – patience is needed by all.

You don’t put out a offer in the public allowing Heather to be rejected by a lower conference and at a lower salary. Its embarrassing. Especially when Hurley had zero interest in coming here. Competent AD’s understand the market place.

“We did NOT offer Hurley 3.25M. I think its pretty funny posters thinking Pitt offered Hurley a 19.5 million dollar contract over 6 years. And on top of that paying Stallings 9+M to walk away. Almost 30 million, this isn’t the Pitt way when it comes to sports. All we have heard for ”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

@Ike – Hurley in year 6 may have had a 3.2M pricetag. Probably so even if first year was $2.5. That’s $100k increase per year which is very normal. An agent takes the highest number of a contract and leaks it, using it as a negotiation tool. It’s not a lie. It’s a misrepresentation in the full scheme of things.

TT, we will disagree on AD. I really hope she turns it around but her first big hire is not going well at all. If the “big donors” wanted Hurley and Miller, why did she float out Schmidt? Good grief. She has 350 choices, but she hasn’t established relationships with big coaches that trust her. That is not having clout or being respected in your profession.

I agree this hire looks very rocky at this minute. I can see the bad points and the unknown aspects. What I don’t know is who PITT ends up hiring. Schmidt would have been a disaster. More than likely whoever is hired will be scrutinized beyond reason. Such is the life on the Blog hemisphere. Hopefully, the sun comes out tomorrow. ike

I’ll say this again … if Heather doesn’t go after Hurley with an attractive offer, the cynics (including many POV posters) would have moaned and groaned to no end. Meanwhile, tell me … what other candidate has been hired elsewhere over the past week?

Good Lord! So much bitching! Too many guys here need to get a life. BTW, is Musselman, the transfer-in guru from Nevada at all an option? Lay off Reed. His skin is only so thick, but some guys on this blog seem to revel in attacking him. Keep it civil are suposed to be watchwords in our comments. Holy cow!

Prior to Musselman, the Nevada Wolf Pack finished the season 9–22, 5–13 in Mountain West play to finish in tenth place. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament to UNLV. At the end of the season, head coach David Carter was fired. He compiled a record of 98–97 in six seasons.

Since then, Musselman has gone 81-28 in his three seasons at Nevada. He was 24-14 in his first season and 10-8 in conference.

He’s not coming to Pittsburgh, not with his house in the Bay Area and with a wife who doesn’t want to live in western PA. He has moved around a lot and I think he’s staying at Nevada another season with the team he is going to have next season.

Does anyone here think that Pitt will hire a coach before Xavier or Rhode Island and/or when each school hires their coach, that we will be happier w the Pitt coach hired and not covetous of who those schools hired? I don’t in either case but hope that like TT, wwb, and Ike(?) I’m just wrong and overly negative (me of little faith).

Mark, I did hear that Schmidt told PITT he was waiting for the Xavier job and it just came open yesterday. I have to laugh, if someone would have suggested going after Porter Moser the minute after Stallings last game they would have bee laughed off the internet.

In other words. We should be more like Greyhound suggests to us. Leave the driving to them. but it is fun being wrong. lol ike

Iek, after thinking you were dumping the cute dog pix to go full blown Cyclops on us I enlarged the gravatar for a closer look. LOL. As for the mention that I am a minion of Reed for hosting POV tailgates, that’s just asinine. Family wedding yesterday so I’m just catching up this morning….or mourning from some of the takes I’m reading.

Fran, I mentioned yesterday that the eye could stand for ike or it could stand for me and not what I seem to most or it could stand for the POV, we’re keeping our eye on PITT football. Happy you figured this one out.

@joeknew – I read somewhere else that Heather had a vacation planned starting tomorrow. No idea if its true. If it is true and she goes on vacation, without a coach, there is noooooooo way that can happen.

With regards to Xavier, they will get a good coach, somebody better than Moser. Since 1985, they have had Pete Gillen, Skip Prosser, Matta, Sean Miller and Mack. Don’t worry about them, that is a good job and they will get a good coach.

PittPT – who cares about Xavier? Pitt will not be competing with Xavier for a coach. Xavier is in a much better place and a much better basketball school right now. Pitt also won’t be competing with Rhode Island for a coach. Let this play out. Pitt has time to interview and find the right coach. The are literally not competing against anyone for coaches. Not many East Coast jobs are open, let alone P5 East Coast jobs.

I’m really hoping Porter Moser is not a candidate. Great run but he really doesn’t have much of a track record. I’d rather have the UMBC kid based on potential … if Pitt is going the hot tourney name route.

There are still a lot of names linked to Pitt in the NCAA right now … Moser, Ashley Howard (NOVA), Schyer(DUKE) … maybe not name that you want to hear but definitely names that should be at least vetted.

For the record, before this entire mess started I said they should just go the great assistant from an established program route … and Ashley Howard was at the top of my list. Shrewsberry is another one I’m a fan of, that I became aware of later. Model Pitt after an established program and build this thing back up. Jay Wright and Brad Stevens are exactly who Pitt should be trying to emulate.

I tried warning people that Pitt was not going to be an easy sell. Unrealistic fans, tough conference, lack of an established recruiting base … This is going to take a special coach. Let Pitt find that person.

I agree with everything you say in the previous post except the confidence that Pitt will/can get the hire right. We have seen an ever evolving list of top candidates but no evidence that any are interested in the Pitt job or the Athletic department can sell the job/negotiate effectively. Believe me I hope I’m wrong. Anyone who knows me can attest that as regards Pitt FB, I am typically one of the most optimistic POV members. H2P!

Upitt – Heather has to appease donors to a point. She needs money. The donors are demanding Miller and she’s been saying no … if you believe the news coming out of the athletic dept. This battle alone will drag out this search.

With the BoT, most AD’s will be a puppet. When SP fired Wanny going against the donors/ boosters/ people of influence, whatever you want to call them, they wouldn’t give him money and we ended up with Haywood. They agreed to give SP money to hire Graham after the Haywood fiasco, who SP did not want to hire, and SP sabotaged that relationship running Graham out of town.

When Graham left, SP wanted to hire Cristobal and the donors overrode him and made him hire Chryst. When Chryst left, the donors flat out convinced Gallagher to fire SP.

It’s true Pitt doesn’t have much money earmarked towards athletics but as a University it has very influential donors who will reallocate money when needed and can wield influence on the BoT.

Pitt’s endowment isn’t as large as it is because they don’t have donors. Pitt just doesn’t have big donors solely focused on the athletic dept.

” . . . if you believe the news coming out of the athletic dept . . .”

What words exactly are coming out of the athletic department?? I can’t think of one direct quote coming out of the athletic department. Tighter than a clam shell. Everything that has been bantered about is just rumors, gossip, or just plain made up. We know absolutely nothing about the ongoing process.

But seriously, Pitt is not competing with any schools for coaches. And the players on the team just went 0-19 in the ACC so who really cares if there isn’t anyone trying to convince them to stay? It’s a do-over in the truest since of the word. Eradicating that Stallings was ever here.

In the end, Pitt will not be good next season. Someone like Miller can fix it faster than others but this is a rebuild … again. The Stallings hire set this back at least two years. Could you imagine if we kept him longer how far back Pitt would be?

This is why I say hire young kid at a lower salary for 2 to 3 years because we’re going to suck anyway for 2 years and then at the end of 3 years if the kids doing well then give a raise if not look for another coach

I think the word that best describes the actions of the Pitt Athletic Department and what bugs me the most about them is tentativeness. We are in a Power 5 conference, with the revenue and seemingly enhanced status that goes with it, and yet Pitt is tentative about every hire, both AD and coaches. Georgia is by no means a basketball school but they IDed their coach and then got him. Pitt IDs a guy who everyone but them seemed to know wouldn’t come and then takes forever to identify their next target. If they wanted Oats they should have made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

@Tossing You’ve made previous comments how Pitt is not competing with this school or that school. I agree were not competing with Louisville and the like. I get that. But who do you think Pitt is competing with? If they are trying to hire a sitting HC, then they are competing with that school. If that school is happy with him, they will offer a raise for him to stay. So which schools are we competing with?

If its a guy like Schmidt, there is no competition. I have to laugh when people are mentioning Schmidt and Xavier in the same sentence. Schmidt will not get a whiff on that job.

I think Pitt actually has done exactly what they should have done so far. Swing for the fences and go for the best coach available. Look, that was a longshot strategy. Pitt is not a desirable destination for the A team of coaches for a variety of reasons.

But it had to try. It had to deal with Hurley wasting 48 hours of our time, as much as that sucked. It had to at least look like it vetted Miller, which also took time. Getting one of the 2-3 best available coaches out there did not work out, but they had to try, and they did. And if Pitt really did offer $3 mil. well that is smart as can be.

Since Pitt is not desirable in many other ways, offer the money if you are going to swing for the fences. That was a card they could play and apparently they played it. They get points for that. I believe in this regard, Pitt played it smart. These were all the right moves.

What I think Pitt has not done well is pivot to plan B. They show the appearance of not having any plan for what to do next. Now, we fans might not know it and they might be quietly executing Plan B.

But it sure does not seems like it. If TT, me, and other posters could see the truth, that Pitt’s most likely best outcome here is to grab an assistant who Pitt is convinced will become one of the next great head coaches, like Dixon, like Wright, etc., by doing deep evaluation of the assistant pool, and sure, deep evaluation of non-Power school HCs, then Pitt should have done their homework, as early as two months ago, and been ready to pivot immediately to the people they have already evaluated as people they think can make Pitt great again.

Instead it seems like we have been rudderless for the past 5 days. We shall see….

All coaches are available….the big question is how many coaches did our AD have on her short list. Schmidt was not one of them. Why was he contacted??? Answer that before going to the rest of the issue. That’s an embarrassment.

@TT – Jay Wright coached under Massimino for 6 or 7 years. Massimino used his influence to get Wright the job. Good move by him.

@Reed & Others – We would have up and comers as a football headcoach, a basketball head coach and an AD. Sounds like the recipe for an athletic department poop samich. To go with an Assistant indicates she wasn’t ready.

Just read some comments about potential financial mismanagement in the AD @ emu. Really?

Reed – He’s, rumored, to be trying to jump ship. Won’t cost that much. Maybe if he builds Pitt back up but not now. He’s been portrayed as practically begging Pitt to come at him from reliable sources.

Bj – that competition isn’t time related. It’s a money competition and I’ve said all along that should be the concern over racing time. Money > Time.

As far as who we are competing with again I think we need to be realistic here.

Apparently we are a University without great support for athletics, a school not in a desirable location for recruiting, nor a destination city (surely that will upset some but really now Pittsburgh, love it, is not a place a lot of people in the U.S. want to move to), with a huge rebuild, in the toughest conference in the U.S., and without a storied basketball tradition. On the flip side, we have the Pete, the Zoo, we are in the ACC (double edged sword I guess), and a past coach was great here.

In short, we are not one of the 30 most desirable BB destinations in the U.S. We are in the next tier of 30…which, at least we are not in the next 30 after that!! Which is why a great assistant is a likely outcome…

Pitt likely can only be great at BBall by building it up from the bottom, like Howland/Dixon did. Maybe if we become perennial top-20 again for another decade or so, that will change. But for now, we are who we are. HTP.

Reed – Remember, Miller’s tied to the FBI scandal and rumored to be on an FBI wiretap over $100K payments to their best player, and future #1 pick Aya. . He’s too expensive to fire for AZ but he’s also just lost his entire top 3 recruiting class because of the scandal. His contract is written so it’s more expensive to fire him for cause. As ridiculous as that sounds it’s true.

He has zero commits next season, now.

It’s also why Heather hasn’t caved to donor pressure. There is a lot of risk in courting him.

Risk/Reward. There was no risk with Stallings and we all saw the payout. WVU took a risk with Huggy Bear and has been rewarded handsomely. If Pitt wants to win at some point it’s got to stop being afraid of it’s own shadow!

You guys have me confused and wondering who will benefit the most if Pitt turns out to make a good BB hire; and who has the most at stake in a negative way if Pitt makes another blunder of a BB hire???

There are several factors that are much different now than in 2003, when Pitt hired an asst coach.

1) We are in the ACC and we are getting over $20 mil per year as opposed to the pittance we got from
the BigEast

2) We are now competing against several Blue Bloods and the best known college bball programs in the country. Not a bunch of schools striving like we were…. to get there

3) In 2003, Virginia was in the middle of a 14 year period where they only made the NCAA’s twice, where
they only won 20 games, twice. They are now a Powerhouse, regardless of the Retrievers.
In 2003 Villanova was not the Powerhouse they are today. They were in the last year of a 5 year run of
not making the NCAA’s. And were not even a factor in the BigEast. Today like Virginia they are a Powerhouse. Pitt is competing with Virginia in the conference and for players and with Villanova for
players thruout the Northeast and specifically Philadelphia, NYC and NJ,

4) Lesser programs like Seton Hall & Providence in 2003, who also recruit in Pitt’s northeast, middle Atlantic
footprint were not anywhere close to what they are now. The Hall only made the NCAA’s twice in the
10 year period leading up to 2003. And would only make the Dance 2 more times in the next 12
years after 2003. They have made the NCAA’s almost as many times in the last 3 years, as in the
previous 22 years. So they are now a formidable force in 2018, where in 2003 they weren’t.
Providence like Seton Hall in 2003 was not a force to be reckoned with. From 1997 to 2013, Providence
only made the NCAA’s twice. Since 2013 they have made The Dance, 5 years in a row.
Both Seton Hall & Providence have very capable HC’s, that can recruit and coach. That was not the
case AT ALL in 2003.

5) Another lesser program, Pitt is directly competing with is Virginia Tech, again in Pitt’s middle Atlantic
footprint for recruiting. In 2003, there was no Buzz Williams there, it was Rickey Stokes. ikr.
Va Tech was in the NCAA’s exactly ONCE from 1996 to 2016. ONCE Seth Greenburg’s 9 tenure netted 1 NCAA year.
They have been to the Dance…..twice in the last 2 years. Virginia Tech is now a formidable school
for Pitt to recruit against with Buzz Williams there, in 2003 it was not.

6) West Virginia was also at the tail end of a down period in 2003. They were one of the worst teams in the BigEast from 1998 to 2004. Missing the NCAA’s in that 6 year period every year Not the case now, as since Thuggy Bear came back, where he played they have reached the NCAA’s 9 of his 11 years. With one Final 4, and 4 Sweet 16’s. West Virginia is a powerhouse now, in 2003, not so much.

7) Another school, close by who Pitt competes with in Ohio for bball recuits is Ohio State. In 2003, was
the start of a 3 year period they missed the NCAA’s every year and ushered out the Jim O’Brien era and
ushered in the Thad Matta era in 2005.
Ohio State therefore is much more formidable now then when Pitt promoted Jamie Dixon.

8) Even Pedo State is a threat now, having won more games (24), this year, which is their 2nd highest
win total since 1990.

You could almost say it was a Perfect situation for Jaimie Dixon to succeed in 2003, based upon what
was going on around Pitt and it’s recruiting footprint in 2003

So whoever Pitt hires now, has many schools in Pitt’s natural recruiting footprint, that are far superior now,
being led by far superior coaches, than was the case in 2003 with these same schools.

You can certainly see why some of the major booster are calling for Miller Time !

Emel – UCONN was the only real competition. I meant now … everyone knew how Hurley was going to end. Xavier may open up with the Louisville hire but Pitt won’t be in the same stratosphere as Xavier for their next coach. Rhode Island is open but that’s not really a threat to Pitt. UGA was open but Crean was never really an option here. UCONN was the only competition and everyone knew how that was going to end.

College basketball doesn’t generally get as crazy as football. In football, you have to rush to hire someone because it’s recruiting season but in basketball there is no urgency. Just make the right hire.

Emel – I think Xavier is a more attractive school right now. Pitt is a complete rebuild. Xavier was a #1 seed and is primed to be good for the next few years. It’s also, arguably, the best stepping stone school in the country.

The ACC and money and growth are new for Pitt. Pitt was an independent and then the BE came along for sports. No real money or leadership but a great BB conference. Pitt is hiring now in the ACC landscape and has hired two football coaches and one BB coach. One was a disaster. Barnes was a disaster as well Hire a good BB head coach who brings a top recruiter and Pitt can be back on tract by year 3. Every college has bad hires. some of them big time programs. Expecting Pitt to get it right is simply unrealistic. But I do think the urgency to fix the BB program is genuine and a good hire will hopefully do that.